NJSIAA State Playoffs First Round Recap: 2/20-21

<p>We got a great taste of playoff action over the past two days in the Garden State with state playoff basketball ongoing. That means plenty of fantastic performances, upsets and more. Here's a quick recap at some of that action in this article.</p>   <h2>Five players reach 1000 point plateau on Tuesday</h2>   <p>An incredible five players: Scotch-Plains Fanwood's [player_tooltip player_id='325204' first='Amanda' last='Baylock'], Westfield's [player_tooltip player_id='321573' first='Annie' last='Ryan'], Cherokee's [player_tooltip player_id='134757' first='Gabby' last='Recinto'], Jackson Memorial's [player_tooltip player_id='482255' first='Zoie' last='Maffei'] and Cinnaminson's [player_tooltip player_id='404204' first='Brooke' last='Sztenderowicz'], all reached the 1000 point plateau on Tuesday. That is easily the most in a single day this season and it might have set a single-day record for most 1000 point scorers in New Jersey girls basketball history, at least recent history.</p>   <h2>Medford Tech wins first state playoff game in program history</h2>   <p>Medford Tech has been around the block a bit, but on Tuesday, the Jaguars reached a new milestone in program history. With a 64-29 win over Lower Cape May, Tech recorded its first state playoff win in program history. [player_tooltip player_id='488765' first='Soleil' last='Casseus'] and [player_tooltip player_id='481575' first='Jada' last='Jacobs'] carried Tech to victory, with Casseus scoring a career-high 29 points and Jacobs scoring 22 points for the Jaguars.</p>   <h2>Lewis scores 34 for Fort Lee in win</h2>   <p>We've mentioned just how impressive of a season it's been for [player_tooltip player_id='321565' first='Jah'Nel' last='Lewis'], and once again, she showed off that scoring prowess in a first-round win over North Hunterdon. Lewis recorded her eighth 30-point game of the season hitting 3 three-pointers en route to scoring a game-high 34 points for the Bridgemen.</p>   <h2>Sweeney goes off for Sparta</h2>   <p>When has [player_tooltip player_id='155447' first='Ally' last='Sweeney'] not had a big moment this season for Sparta because she did just that on Tuesday against Wayne Valley. Hitting five three-pointers, Sweeney scored 26 points along with nine rebounds, six assists and a steal. She's had her fair share of 25-point games this season, but it was only her second game with five or more made three-pointers as a senior.</p>   <h2>Blocker powers Clayton to victory</h2>   <p>Things were far from easy for Clayton, playing Audubon in the first round of the South Jersey Group 1 NJSIAA playoffs, but [player_tooltip player_id='414351' first='Rainelle' last='Blocker'] made sure the Clippers continued their playoff run. She scored 24 points to lead Clayton, seemingly doing everything and anything on the floor. A fantastic individual performance and a great end result.</p>   <h2>Kittatinny upsets Saddle Brook</h2>   <p>Talk about expecting the unexpected, what a performance from the now 7-19 Kittatinny Cougars, playing a Saddle Brook team that was 19-7 coming in. Behind three players in double-figures, [player_tooltip player_id='879788' first='Taylor' last='Hough'] leading with 14, and an 11-point, 16-rebound double-double from [player_tooltip player_id='859234' first='Olivia' last='Lombardo'], the Cougars held tough and came out with a seven-point victory. An impressive performance on the other side of the floor we need to mention from [player_tooltip player_id='483418' first='Ella' last='Marchesani'], who scored 26 to pace Saddle Brook.</p>   <h2>West Orange obliterates Memorial</h2>   <p>Memorial, having gone 15-3 in conference play, stood no chance against West Orange on Tuesday, losing by 32 to the Mountaineers, who had things going offensively. [player_tooltip player_id='414431' first='Kyley' last='Gary-Grayson'] led the team in scoring with 19 points, one of three players with 10+ points, and Anaya Karreim nearly missed out on a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds, adding in an incredible six blocks to the fold.</p>   <h2>McCracken dominates for Wildwood, hitting milestone as sophomore</h2>   <p>We mentioned above the players who reached 1000 points all on Tuesday, but McCracken did the same on Monday, doing so in grand fashion. The sophomore became the second player in Wildwood history to reach the 1000 point mark as a sophomore and just this season, she's hit 91 three-pointers, including six on Monday as she scored a game-high 26 points.</p>   <h2>Montclair, Vernon both suffer upsets in first round</h2>   <p>The theme of upsets continued on Monday as a pair of teams in Montclair and Vernon both were knocked out in the first round of play in 15+ point losses. Columbia defeated Montclair, 46-21, led by [player_tooltip player_id='488684' first='Talia' last='Baptiste']'s 14 points, four rebounds and five assists. She also had two blocks and four steals. Her, [player_tooltip player_id='482282' first='Bella' last='Galatt'] and [player_tooltip player_id='404230' first='Shana' last='Desir'] each had three assists or more in the win. Mahwah took care of business against Vernon, holding them to 20 points in a 36-20 win. [player_tooltip player_id='488846' first='Marissa' last='LaVerghetta'] and [player_tooltip player_id='600901' first='Taylor' last='Tremblay'] combined for 12 steals and [player_tooltip player_id='559078' first='Ava' last='Comer'] led the team offensively with 11 points, hitting 2 three-pointers in the win.</p>

We got a great taste of playoff action over the past two days in the Garden State with state playoff basketball ongoing. That means plenty of fantastic performances, upsets and more. Here's a quick recap at some of that action in this article.